Sea Turtles Season!

In the dead of night, the female hauls herself from the sea. She is following the ancient tracks. For 130 million years, her maternal forebears have visited this beach; she hatched here herself. Now she does her bit for her endangered species.

She crawls away from the shoreline, looking for a likely place in the dunes. Then she digs, her hind flappers tunneling into the white sand. Into the hole, she lays her eggs. Dozens of babies, few of which will survive into adulthood. She buries them, then she returns to the ocean depths once more.


Beneath the sand the eggs lie hidden. Protecting their precious contents; which are nurtured and grow, quietly out of view. They are so vunerable. So much in their environment affects their chances of survival. A disturbed nest will kill them outright, even if a predator never finds their actual egg.

The heat of the sand has a sliding scale of worth. If it grows too cold, they will never hatch and die. If it remains at a normal, shaded Tropical temperature, then they will become males. If the sand heats up, in the full glare of the sun, they will become females. If it over-heats, then they will cook in their shells. Four fates await, based on the temperature alone.

Then, a month or two after they were laid, every hatchling emerges during a short period of time. They burrow their way to the surface and kick off the last of their encrusted shells. Then it's the perilous scurry towards the ocean and a frantic plunging into the sea. The birds above are watching, swooping down to feast. The infants' future is fair from certain. Many creatures out there love a snack of baby sea turtle. The majority won't make it. Only one in 4,000 will. But those that do will return in around 30 years time, to mate or lay their own eggs. Thus the cycle of life goes on.


We've spoken here about sea turtles before ("Sea turtles, mate"), but, as we enter the new breeding season, it's worth the repetition. They are an endangered species, hence they need all of the help we can give them, in terms of awareness.

May through to October is sea turtle breeding season. Upon any beach, in the Mexican Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, the rare and awesome sight of a mother sea turtle crawling up the sands may be witnessed. Conservationists are desperately trying to keep this species going, so you may also see sticks poking out of the sand. If you do, then leave it will alone. It will be marking a nest and has been placed there to alert those passing by.

Also many hotels and other coastal companies may play their part. Some actively protect the nests within their land, collecting hatchlings and keeping them safe within shallow pools. These will then be released, en masse, directly into the ocean. It cuts out one more dangerous step, the rush from nest to sea, for the little ones.


A few final tips:

* If you are waiting at night on the beach, please try to keep bright lights shielded. (Sea turtles, looking for a nest, will navigate by it and collide with you - these are big creatures!) If you can see your shadow on the sand, then it's too bright.

* If you see a sea turtle emerging from the ocean, do not interrupt it. It will frighten easily and might not nest at all. Just stay very quiet and observe. Above all, do not use flash photography. (See above note on bright lights and add to it how startled mothers = not nesting mothers.)

* If you see a stick in the sand, leave it there and try not to be too loud in the vicinity.

And long live the sea turtles!

You Only Live Once

Joe Vass originally came to the Yucatán Peninsula as a tourist, and it changed the direction of his life. I discovered his YouTube channel last week, while searching for videos about sea turtles. His film touches upon them, but it's so much more. His enthusiasm about Mexico is infectious.



Joe and Cindy Vass, according to their YouTube profile, were construction workers, in their native Kelowna, British Columbia, in Canada. Their vacation to the Yucatán Peninsula sparked a change of vocation, into freelance videography, producing and photography.

It all fed into their personal belief in 'YOLO' - You only live once.

"How often does one promise themselves, "when I have . . . I'll . . . (i.e. get that car, travel, etc.). Time moves on - stuff happens - opportunities gone. YOLO! We are passionate about travel, HD videography and photography and decided to do it!

"Why YouTube? We wondered how we could inspire others; to travel or pursue their dreams. We decided simply to show you what we have done. Maybe you'll see something here that inspires you or amuses you (Beware of Joe's humor). In the mean time, we're going to continue to travel and produce 'clips' for you and chase our ultimate dream: to become the 'clip encyclopedia' for the world with all its wonders and beauty."
Joe and Cindy Vass, on their YouTube Channel profile

It's hard to argue with that! We, at Endless Tours, wish them well on their journey and thank you both for the amazing footage of our country.

"Sea turtles, mate."

Ragetti: Is that... can't be.
Pintel: How?
Captain Teague: Sea turtles, mate.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Sea turtles can be found in all of the world's oceans, minus the really cold ones up by the poles. They spend their lives in the sea, coming to the surface to breath, before dodging back underwater to feed. Here they can live for up to 80 years. The largest of the five species of sea turtle can grow up to eight feet (2.5m) long, weighing in at 1,300lbs (93 stone; or 590kg). They are truly one of the great, gentle giants of the sea.

Only the mature females ever venture onto land and then only to lay their eggs on the beaches. Beaches in Mexico are some of the dwindling number where nesting occurs, as anyone who reads A Canuck in Cancun knows:

A gigantic mama turtle was RIGHT THERE laying her eggs!! Super awe, jaw on the sandy floor, ga ga girls, we oohed and aaahed and watched her do her thing ... Turtle patrol came along and took her measurements and clamped a tracking device on her flipper. Her shell was 106 cms by 96 cms, big girl! We got hit by some flying sand when she started to try to get out of her hole, her powerful flippers making loud THWACK sounds as she dug her way out. We left her in peace to make her way back to sea.
A Canuck in Cancun: Where the Boys Aren't: Girls' Beach Getaway

And if you don't read 'A Canuck in Cancun', then why not? It's a brilliant blog!



When these eggs hatch, there is a sudden surge of tiny babies rushing towards the ocean. Seagulls and other predators lunge in and only a fraction ever make it. Then there is the arduous task of growing up, amidst the sharks and others who like to see sea turtle on the menu.

Sea turtles have been around for 130 million years; yet they have now been hunted to the brink of extinction by human beings. Sadly, a large proportion of this happens in Mexico, where poachers illegally catch and sell them into the international market, or eat them at home. Tourist are warned to boycott and report any restaurant with sea turtle on offer. Moreover, please don't buy any tortoiseshell products.

Even more recently, BP came under sharp criticism for burning sea turtles alive, by trapping them into controlled 'burn zones', in a bid to remove oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. The Nature Institute in New Orleans estimated that at least 425 sea turtles had perished that way, with many more being picked up by conservationists. The survivors had to be cleaned up, with toothbrushes used to scrub the oil from their shells.

Sea Turtles are globally protected under the regulations of both the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Mexico is amongst those countries who have added extra laws to strengthen international law. It is illegal to poach, hunt, catch or eat sea turtles in Mexico. It is also illegal to use shrimp nets that don't allow sea turtles to escape. By-catch (when something other than what you were fishing for ends up caught) was a major threat to the sea turtles before that law came in. Traditional nesting beaches, in Mexico, are protected under law. They are often incorporated into national parks in order to ensure this protection.

In addition, there have been many other campaigns in the country, aiming to combat some of the cultural, religious or superstitious reasoning behind the consumption of sea turtles. In this very Catholic of countries, sea turtles are often eaten during Lent. This is such a problem that activists wrote to the Pope hoping that he would rule that sea turtles are meat, not fish, and therefore prohibited during that period. He hasn't done so yet.

Another pervasive (but utterly incorrect) belief was that sea turtle eggs boosted male potency. Playboy pin-up and singer Dorismar was enlisted to help combat that one. For the non-Spanish speakers, that legend reads, "My man doesn't need turtle eggs."

Dorismar also made an appearance on the extremely popular TV show, Sábado Gigante. She used her charms to convince Spanish speaking men everywhere that they really didn't need to eat sea turtle eggs. Wearing nothing but revealing pyjamas, she explained carefully that it's a myth that they help male virility.

The TV show broadcasts to an audience of over 100 million people, spread across 42 countries. Dorismar's slot on it was part of Sábado Gigante's campaign tour of Latin America, ending in Mexico City. During which they spread the 'Don't Eat Sea Turtles' word even further. Live music and personal appearances by Dorismar helped the message to sink in.

May to October is sea turtle breeding season, so it is possible that any visitors to Mexico might encounter their nests. If you see a mound of sand with a stick in it, then leave it well alone. It is being monitored by one of the many volunteer or state sea turtle conservation organizations. If you happen to spot a giant turtle leaving the ocean, with huge tyre track grooves in the sand, then report it immediately to the beach patrols. They can then alert the relevant people to come and protect the nest.

Then sit back, at a distance, and revel in the fact that you have witnessed one of nature's more wondrous moments. Because, if the poachers win, no future generation will be able to see it at all.